


Reflect the Sky (Turn the Tides) Additional Content

by Turix



Series: Caught in the Whirlpools [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gen, add tags as I update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:15:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26483281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turix/pseuds/Turix
Summary: Short stories, all canon unless stated otherwise, mostly snippets that didn't quite make the story, I thought of later, or from different perspective's.Chapter Name will be what chapter you should read for best understanding,Enjoy!
Series: Caught in the Whirlpools [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925305
Comments: 2
Kudos: 120





	1. Read Two: Senju Tobirama

**The Night before he Infiltrates Konoha**

Tobirama is old.

He was old and tired and bitter before the Kinkachu Brothers.

Now, the only thing he is bitter about is the fact that _that_ will be his legacy.

Konoha will never be his Konoha when he and Tsunade are the last Senju. 

He leans his back against one of his brother's trees.

The last gift Yuma gave him, little Kameko-chan, he will treasure. He will protect her with all she is worth. Then he will follow the rest of his comrades to The Pure Lands and nothing will stop him from planting one on Yuma.

He smiles, _the simplest plan I’ve ever made_.

But first he has some unfinished business.


	2. Read Eight: The Bench Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orochimaru meets Kameko.

**Orochimaru on the Bench**

He knew she was odd the moment she sat down next to him.

Civilians didn’t do that.

Hell,  _ shinobi  _ didn’t do that.

And then he mistook her for the child’s young, civilian mother and within a month realized that he needed to practice analyzing living people because one hundred percent incorrect was an absolute stain on his record.

(Tsunade reassured him that it was just Chiharu and _ you aren’t  _ that  _ bad, Orochi-chan. _ )

At the time, he was sure that whatever neutrality or goodwill that had her sit next to him would evaporate. He’d already begun to berate himself mentally when  _ she  _ apologized.

Orochimaru had been feeling very alone; no parents, no team, no one other than his snakes that absolutely did not  _ do _ feelings. And she sat down and he found out that he could be helpful in a way that was in the  _ white _ morally, not grey or black, something completely novel.

And he is a scientist, so anything new should be examined thoroughly.

(It felt nice to smile at someone again.)

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These will be posted as I write them but the chapter name will be what chapter you need to read up to for complete understanding.


	3. Read Eight: Uzumaki Smiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why Tsunade saw Hashirama's smile in Kameko.

**In Which Kameko’s smile _is_ the Same as Hashirama's**

Uzumaki Mito was an Uzumaki Princess.

A Princess who married the Prince of the Leaves.

A Princess who loved her land and smiled like her people.

\---

Senju Hashirama was the Shodaime Hokage.

A Hokage that loved meeting new people and involving them.

A Hokage that was at war for most of his life.

\---

Mito was a Kunoichi. She was also a woman who grew to love her husband. 

(Hashirama thought that he had perfected smiling.)

(So he practiced and practiced. He didn’t get it right for a very long time.)

Eventually he asked his wife, “How do you smile so perfectly?”

And she answered, “I can’t always do it.”

\---

Then he met Tsunade and then he  _ did it _ ; his eyes crinkled, his lips tilted up without him telling them to and his body relaxed.

_ “You need to be happy.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that just popped in my head so


	4. Read Nine: The Sannin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsunade and Orochimaru take Jiraiya to the stream for their reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tags: minor ambiguous phrasing, sannin, good orochimaru, putting effort into healthy relationships, orphans, touch starved character(s), fluff and comfort, angst and comfort, sannin best team, character study

When Jiraiya seeks them out to get a drink and have dinner, they take him outside the village.

(It’s almost starting to feel like home again.)

Jiraiya observes them in silence while they head straight to the onigiri section of the store.

(They’ve been here many times.)

Jiraiya plays the ditz because it’s familiar to him, but Jiraiya is also a budding spy master. He is observant.

He knew that when he left two months ago his team was falling apart.

He didn’t expect to see Tsunade when he returned.

(Part of his reasoning for creating his network was to know she’d be alive.)

\---

They lead him to a river and smoothly take off their shoes. 

Sitting on the bank, he copies their movements and sits between them.

He does not act the fool.

(He knows he’s been taken to a special place among the Hashirama trees. This is a place for mending and _honesty_.)

He waits for one of them to speak.

“When she first took me here, she told me that the Hashirama trees were her favorite part of Konoha,” Tsunade begins. “And later, she asked me who I had left. And I thought _so hard_ about it when the answer was right in front of me.”

It starts to drizzle. None of them move.

“Shizune has me, but a nine year old can’t be a pillar for a war veteran. She calls them _trips_ , when she takes us here. I feel like the only time my mind shuts up is when I’m near her.”

Jiraiya doesn’t know who ‘she’ is. He doesn’t ask.

Orochimaru picks up the story, “Tsunade left,” he said flatly. “For two weeks. And then she came back covered in bruises and with a pig.”

“She saved me from Danzo. She also saved me from myself. I was driving myself crazy and she sits down next to me and asks me to heat up baby formula with _katon_.”

Orochimaru’s laugh was self-deprecating.

“I felt so relieved to use the one harmless katon jutsu I knew that I went home and cried afterwards. I hadn’t cried since my parents died.”

Jiraiya winces.

“The next time I saw her was right after Tsunade saw me at the park. Our local Kaa-sama dragged me over to their blanket and she was putting out food for a picnic.”

Tsunade lets out a throaty chuckle, “He was so awkward he pretended he didn’t know her,” her voice lowers, “and she let him.”

“Eventually,” Tsunade continues, “She passive-aggressively forced me into inviting Orochi-chan here on one of our _trips._ She didn’t say, ‘It’ll be fun I swear’ but it was anyways.”

Orochimaru blows a raspberry, “Afterwards, I started coming here to think. After bumping into each other enough times, Tsunade and I figured it out. You guys were the only family I ever had and you _left_. And for a while, that was okay. I could help on a larger scale and be Hokage. And yet, Hiruzen never trusted me. By that point, the only thing I’d have left is science without anyone to remind me of ethics.”

Tsunade picks up the confession, “Neither of you had family and so I discounted you guys to be able to help me grieve. I lost Dan, my clan slowly but steadily, and Nawaki. And I ignored that Orochimaru loved him, too, I pushed you both away when you were all I had left. My self-esteem shrunk when I developed my fear of blood and the hospital staff started whispering, I felt completely trapped.” 

“This river is where we healed,” Tsunade explains. “Where we came back together. We’re thirty-seven and she showed us how to get over ourselves like we were squabbling genin.”

They look up at Jiraiya, “But we also aren’t complete yet. Hanzo was wrong. Sannin, Legendary Three, seems to only work in the war. The war’s over. She’s our glue and we need her. In any way we can have her.”

Orochimaru pauses, “She isn’t from Konoha. We don’t know where she’s from.”

Tsunade hums, “And we might never. Aren’t even sure of her name. But that’s okay because, hell, Katsuyu trusted her before they even met.”

Jiraiya raises an eyebrow in disbelief. Katsuyu was kind but it took a lot to sway her favor. Manda was picky, Gamabunta was relaxed, and Katsuyu was protective. 

Tsunade shrugs, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Jiraiya watches as the rain creates ripples on the surface of the stream. 

“I’ll have to meet her.”

They nod.

The rain doesn’t stop.

\---

Bunching his hands on the spongy moss, Jiraiya makes a fist and slowly unravels his fingers. As an orphan, his childhood lacked affection and he realizes he could probably be described as touch starved. Reaching out slowly he grasps each of his teammates hands, squeezing gently. 

(He never thought he’d have the courage to seek them for physical contact. So far, sex was his only outlet- he hopes that can change.)

They squeeze back and he begins, “I don’t really know how to comfort people or fix relationships and make them stronger,” he admits. “I can pat someone’s shoulder or buy them a popsicle but I guess I missed a memo somewhere…”

No one laughs, though Jiraiya tries. 

“Eventually, I’d see you two and all I could see was us falling apart and so instead of trying to fix it I started pulling away and bracing my heart for the collateral. Apart from Minato, you’re all I got.”

Jiraiya took a deep breath and confessed something he never imagined he would.

“And on my bad days, I hated you, hated Hiruzen-sensei, hated our team. For being good shinobi and doing our duty and becoming The Legendary Sannin. All it did was give people more expectations of me- expectations I _never_ wanted. How is our world so fucked up that Orochimaru’s first instinct was to kill the orphans in Ame? Because that was the most we could do to _‘help’?”_

He sags, “Sometimes it was easier to pretend I never did those things, never went to war, never _hurt_ , and then I’d see you guys and I _can’t forget_.”

They squeeze tighter.

The sun peeks out from behind a cloud and for a moment they are surrounded by rainbows.

Tsunade takes a deep breath and yells, “I will never leave my teammates!”

Orochimaru groans but opens his mouth and yells, “I will trust my teammates!”

Jiraiya blinks. _The only time he’d heard Orochimaru raise his voice was in the middle of a battlefield to relay information._

He booms, “I love my teammates!”

(They are the only ones to hear their vows.

It’s enough.)

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this leads into ch. 10


End file.
